By Adam S. Levy - Breaking Celebrity News Staff Writer

Passionate, intelligent, studious and ambitious, DJ Cobra is an emerging mainstream talent, performing high-profile gigs internationally and working alongside some of Hollywood's brightest stars, including Lady Gaga, P. Diddy and Paris Hilton. 

We caught up with the 30-year-old Los Angeles native, whose real name is Andrew Bagg, as he kicks off a residency at The Bank at the Bellagio every Friday beginning this week, and prepares to open two nightclubs in Los Angeles this summer. 

We hit on a number of topics, from working alongside the rich and famous to the craft of being a DJ and what it takes to succeed.

Breaking Celebrity News: How did you get the name DJ Cobra?

DJ Cobra: It was always a temporary name. It was never designed to be a permanent name. I was real young ... me and my buddy were aspiring DJs, still in high school. We needed a name because we wanted to record ourselves. Anyways, Cobra came from GI Joe -- the bad guys in G.I. Joe, and the Karate Kid, are named cobra ... I was kind of inspired by those two things. The name was always a place holder, but it stuck as time went on.

Breaking Celebrity News: Of all the A-listers you've rubbed elbows with, who's the most down-to-earth?

DJ Cobra: It's hard to say ... a lot of them are cool ... there's a few sides to people with their public persona, in how the world perceives them, and then their  private character. Essentially, they're just regular people, working stiffs -- it just happens to be what they do. I guess it's who's let it go to their head.

Breaking Celebrity News: From one glance at your schedule it's clear you're constantly on the road doing gigs. What drives you to such a breakneck pace?

DJ Cobra: I'm always improving -- my feeling's always like, the rug's about to be pulled from underneath me. It's not about greed, it's not about ego, it's about maximizing my potential.

Breaking Celebrity News: How do you get ready for a performance?

DJ Cobra: I don't prepare my set. I have no idea what I'm gonna play on any given night. Maybe it's combinations, maybe it's wordplay, maybe it's in the same key. You need to be able to connect with your audience in real-time. I'm choosing my playlist based on reading the crowd, from house music to corporate engagements. The thing is, you're never gonna be able to please everyone. The goal is when you DJ is to find that happy medium in a room with anywhere from 100 to 2,000 people.

Breaking Celebrity News: Tell me about your brush with Lady Gaga prior to her breakout.

DJ Cobra: My first interaction with her was when my friend George, from Interscope Records, brought her to one of the clubs I was working at. He was begging me to play the song “Just Dance,” he wouldn't leave the DJ booth until I did. I was hesitant -- because what I've learned from experience, is that people won't dance to a song they don't know if they can't sing along with it -- but